Do you think feminism has been a net positive or net negative for relationships?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Casual f buddy relationships? Yes, positive.

It's 2025

No one is clutching pearls over you leading whatever kind of life you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, because my husband and I are a team. He did bar flashcards with me, I read his thesis and did mock defense practice with him. We staggered our maternity and paternity leave so we could keep our kids home longer. And because we're dual income we both have the flexibility at our jobs so we never have to miss a school recital, neither of us has to work crazy hours to support the family.

Egalitarianism has made us both have better work/life balance.

+1
And when DH lost his job at 50, I could carry the financial burden easy; he took the lion’s share of the house work. We both made about 400k, so we basically lived on one salary anyway. I kinda like having a stay at home spouse, although I’m not supposed to admit that because I’m a woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One argument against feminism is that it has damaged the family structure. By getting rid of traditional gender roles, it has caused confusion about roles, placed unrealistic expectations on women, and pushed men away, all while prioritizing personal goals over family stability.

Maybe you should rethink how you apply feminism in your life. It’s been great for mine household. We have 2 fully engaged parents who can do everything for the kids, not just one. Literally we have redundancy built into the family structure so it’s stronger, not weaker.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on what you consider “feminism”.

Negatives (I concede that many people here disagree and don’t consider these as negative):
More fatherless children
More promiscuous sexual behaviors
Lower levels of happiness, especially among women
Lower birth rates
DEI
Proliferation and normalization of prostitution and pornography
Insane social justice nonsense

Positives:
Higher GDP per capita
Access Larger talent pools
Larger workforce
Economic self-determination for women
Higher income households for dual earner households
Less pressure on men to be sole provider for a household

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Casual f buddy relationships? Yes, positive.

It's 2025

No one is clutching pearls over you leading whatever kind of life you want.

I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on what you consider “feminism”.

Negatives (I concede that many people here disagree and don’t consider these as negative):
More fatherless children
More promiscuous sexual behaviors
Lower levels of happiness, especially among women
Lower birth rates
DEI
Proliferation and normalization of prostitution and pornography
Insane social justice nonsense

Positives:
Higher GDP per capita
Access Larger talent pools
Larger workforce
Economic self-determination for women
Higher income households for dual earner households
Less pressure on men to be sole provider for a household

The prior poster does not differentiate between feminism and hypothesized effects of feminism.

Also in the U.S., many of the economic effects were driven by globalization and related industrial transformation, not the increase of women in the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women have almost always worked outside the home. Took in washing and farmer and did kitchen gardens and made cheese to sell etc etc. They just couldn't own land or have their own assets and money and had to have men as heads of household (husbands or fathers or brothers). Women who can earn their own living are "dangerous" as they won't be subjugated to men's desires and birth control means they can have children on their own timeline.

While this is true, they rarely had jobs that kept them out of the house 40 hours a week. Men had FT jobs out of the house and women did not. Daycares didn’t even exist and life expectancy was lower so no, grandparents weren’t providing 40 hours a week of childcare.

In my opinion, feminism cost women friendships and communities. Women are now not home most of the time. Most women in my affluent suburban neighborhood have few friends. The new norm is keeping up with friends from earlier in life electronically but not having friends to spend time with on a daily or weekly basis. We work, use the internet and if we are lucky have a hobby.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what PPs think feminism is. They seem to be equating it to WOH and promiscuity, when it is neither. (There are plenty of non-feminist scenarios where women WOH and/or have a lot of sex.)

Feminism is just the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. As someone else said, men who feel that threatens their ability to have a relationship and a family are really telling on themselves about what a crappy partner they'd be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women have almost always worked outside the home. Took in washing and farmer and did kitchen gardens and made cheese to sell etc etc. They just couldn't own land or have their own assets and money and had to have men as heads of household (husbands or fathers or brothers). Women who can earn their own living are "dangerous" as they won't be subjugated to men's desires and birth control means they can have children on their own timeline.

While this is true, they rarely had jobs that kept them out of the house 40 hours a week. Men had FT jobs out of the house and women did not. Daycares didn’t even exist and life expectancy was lower so no, grandparents weren’t providing 40 hours a week of childcare.

In my opinion, feminism cost women friendships and communities. Women are now not home most of the time. Most women in my affluent suburban neighborhood have few friends. The new norm is keeping up with friends from earlier in life electronically but not having friends to spend time with on a daily or weekly basis. We work, use the internet and if we are lucky have a hobby.

Childcare was absolutely a thing. Plenty of women made money "keeping" other people's kids for the workday. And women have always worked outside their own home - most commonly in someone else's home, but sometimes in shops or eating establishments and later in factories. It's simply not true that women have been at home throughout history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on what you consider “feminism”.

Negatives (I concede that many people here disagree and don’t consider these as negative):
More fatherless children
More promiscuous sexual behaviors
Lower levels of happiness, especially among women
Lower birth rates
DEI
Proliferation and normalization of prostitution and pornography
Insane social justice nonsense

Positives:
Higher GDP per capita
Access Larger talent pools
Larger workforce
Economic self-determination for women
Higher income households for dual earner households
Less pressure on men to be sole provider for a household

The prior poster does not differentiate between feminism and hypothesized effects of feminism.

Also in the U.S., many of the economic effects were driven by globalization and related industrial transformation, not the increase of women in the workforce.

There is very little debate on this issue. There are many economies which provide a robust and real time control group because women are prohibited from workplace participation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women have almost always worked outside the home. Took in washing and farmer and did kitchen gardens and made cheese to sell etc etc. They just couldn't own land or have their own assets and money and had to have men as heads of household (husbands or fathers or brothers). Women who can earn their own living are "dangerous" as they won't be subjugated to men's desires and birth control means they can have children on their own timeline.

While this is true, they rarely had jobs that kept them out of the house 40 hours a week. Men had FT jobs out of the house and women did not. Daycares didn’t even exist and life expectancy was lower so no, grandparents weren’t providing 40 hours a week of childcare.

In my opinion, feminism cost women friendships and communities. Women are now not home most of the time. Most women in my affluent suburban neighborhood have few friends. The new norm is keeping up with friends from earlier in life electronically but not having friends to spend time with on a daily or weekly basis. We work, use the internet and if we are lucky have a hobby.

Childcare was absolutely a thing. Plenty of women made money "keeping" other people's kids for the workday. And women have always worked outside their own home - most commonly in someone else's home, but sometimes in shops or eating establishments and later in factories. It's simply not true that women have been at home throughout history.

Yes, google the practice of wet nursing in the 18th Century. Around half of all babies born were sent out of Paris at the time to be with wet nurses. This happened across all classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on what you consider “feminism”.

Negatives (I concede that many people here disagree and don’t consider these as negative):
More fatherless children
More promiscuous sexual behaviors
Lower levels of happiness, especially among women
Lower birth rates
DEI
Proliferation and normalization of prostitution and pornography
Insane social justice nonsense

Positives:
Higher GDP per capita
Access Larger talent pools
Larger workforce
Economic self-determination for women
Higher income households for dual earner households
Less pressure on men to be sole provider for a household

The prior poster does not differentiate between feminism and hypothesized effects of feminism.

Also in the U.S., many of the economic effects were driven by globalization and related industrial transformation, not the increase of women in the workforce.

There is very little debate on this issue. There are many economies which provide a robust and real time control group because women are prohibited from workplace participation.

Bring your citations.

There are few economies where women are substantially prohibited from workforce participation. I really can't guess where you are headed with this. Maybe Saudi Arabia vs. U.S. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me it’s been an absolute net positive. It helped me to open my eyes to how lame so many men are, and how they aren’t worth my time. Once my eyes were opened there was no turning back. No amount of propaganda in the world will turn me back. Call me a bitter old cat lady all you want. I could care less.

I live a life filled with peace and contentment. I go where I want to go, when I want to go. I have an amazing career that brings me job and pays big bucks. It’s an area that’s supposed to for men. But so what…. I like money too. I have fabulous group of friends, a beloved cat, and a boy toy to meet physical needs who I NEVER let live with me and start dirtying up my house.

Eh. I get where you’re coming from and I’ve met bitter women like you, you are going to believe what you’ve convinced yourself is true. But feminism and a high powered career and independence are not mutually exclusive. It’s about finding the right partner and building a life with them and still globetrotting, making money and climbing ranks. Oh and also having a family. You made a trade off that you felt you had to make at the time and have settled into a belief system now 20 years later. I may or may not have climbed as high as you did this is an anonymous board but I had my family while also having access to the corporate jet. Both are possible.

How about just career, and independence it’s not what you think it is when women have close friends.

Also they have families.

The reality is when man date they are competing against other men they are competing with peace.

This is incoherent drivel. I cannot respond because you cannot link your words together.

[Anonymous]

Positive! I’m the sole breadwinner now and it feels really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also good for women and men that don’t wanna get married. There’s so many that never wanted to get married and they felt obligated to and that’s a train wreck.

This.

Now for the first time, people get to choose if they want to get married and have kids. They get to choose their partner, rather than being forced because it’s the only way to survive.

This is a good thing for everyone. Fewer unwanted kids who will grow up with bad parents or worse. Fewer people stuck with someone who doesn’t want them.